Samuel Freeman postmaster appointment, 1775

Samuel Freeman's appointment as deputy postmaster of Portland on October 1, 1755, serves as a symbol of Maine's independence from Great Britain. The United Colonies now had their own governing body and made appointments independent of the crown.

Benjamin Franklin, Esq. Post-Master-General of all the United Colonies on the Continent of North America, signed the document.

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Jedediah Preble letter on Mowat kidnapping, 1775

For several years, some residents of Falmouth had protested British policy with Stamp Act riots and by stopping sugar shipments. The town voted to support the non importation boycott against British goods.

Falmouth's location on the coast made it vulnerable to British attack, so town officials were cautious about how active they wanted to be in protesting British policies.

But not everyone supported that position. Samuel Thompson and his Brunswick militia invaded Falmouth in May 1775, and took a hostage -- Lt. Henry Mowat, commanding officer of the British man-of-war, the Canceaux.

This letter from Jedediah Preble, representative of the Committee of Correspondence, to the Provincial Congress discussed the kidnapping on May 14, 1775 and Mowatt's release.

Both sides remembered the incident and neither was satisfied with the outcome.

Benedict Arnold

An encounter of a different sort took place in Maine in 1775 when Benedict Arnold and his army of 1,000 troops gathered in Maine to march to Quebec where they hoped to defeat the British and protect the northern borders.

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Reuben Colburn letter about Benedict Arnold march, 1775

This is a report copied by Remington Hobby to Reuben Colburn signed by Dennis Getchell and Samuel Berry or Barry concerning the route through the Maine frontier in the Skowhegan area that Benedict Arnold took on the March to Quebec.

Arnold and his men followed the Kennebec River north from its mouth at Popham.

Pension application, David Lamb, 1832

A further reminder of Arnold's march to Quebec was a pension application from a soldier who was with him. While Arnold's march had little effect on Maine, it was one more reminder in the early days of the American Revolution that Mainers would be touched in varied ways by the war.

For further reading:
James Leamon, "Revolution Downeast: the War for Independence in Maine" (Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1993)
Richard Judd, ed., "Maine: The Pine Tree State from Prehistory to the Present" (Orono: University of Maine Press, 1994)
"Henry Mowat: Voyage of the Canceaux, 1764-1776" (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 2003)